Defect Prevention is the process of improving quality and productivity by preventing the injection of defects into a product. It consists of four elements integrated into the development process: (1) causal analysis meetings to identify the root cause of defects and suggest preventive actions; (2) an action team to implement the preventive actions; (3) kickoff meetings to increase awareness of quality issues specific to each development stage; and (4) data collection and tracking of associated data. The Defect Prevention Process has been successfully implemented in a variety of organizations within IBM, some for more than six years. This paper discusses the steps needed to implement this process and the results that may be obtained. Data on quality, process costs, benefits, and practical experiences are also presented. Insights into the nature of programming errors and the application of this process to a variety of working environments are discussed.

Experiences with defect prevention

From the Publisher:
This book details program analyses and transformations that extract the flow of data in computer memory systems. It emphasizes a framework for the optimization of code for imperative programs and greater computer systems efficiency. In addition, it shows that correctness of program transformations is guaranteed by the conservation of data flow.
Professionals and researchers in software engineering, computer engineering, program design analysis, and compiler design will benefit from its presentation of data-flow methods and memory optimization of compilers.

Practical Software Testing

: Improving the process of software systems development and maintenance is the most reliable way to improve product quality. This document offers guidance on how to establish a software engineering process group (SEPG) and related software engineering process improvement functions. The process group works with line organizations to improve process quality by helping to assess current status, plan and implement improvements, and transfer technology to facilitate improvement in practice.

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Software Engineering Process Group Guide

Presents the results of two surveys among European software houses. One of the goals was to find out whether software companies have actually achieved software process improvements via ISO 9000. The first survey was conducted among 20 German software houses that have received an ISO 9001 certificate. The study focuses on five elements of an ISO 9000 quality system: code reviews and inspections software testing, product and process measurements, measurement of quality costs, and demonstration of quality improvements. Many software houses included in our first survey have not carried out any modifications of the five elements. Thus, it seemed that ISO 9000 had not led to significant improvements. Nevertheless, nearly 100% of the companies would decide in favor of implementing an ISO 9000 quality system once again. We decided to conduct a second study to gain a better understanding of the software process improvements achieved via ISO 9000. We analyzed experience reports and conducted interviews with quality managers from a total of 36 European software houses. It turned out that software houses have indeed achieved process improvements. Unfortunately, most software houses are not able to quantify the benefits of implementing an ISO 9000 quality system. We identified ten key success factors that the respondents of our studies considered to be the most helpful when implementing an ISO 9000 quality system. Astonishingly, only two of the ten factors are explicit requirements of ISO 9001. This shows that it is necessary to implement a more comprehensive approach to achieve substantial software process improvements.

Software process improvement via ISO 9000? Results of two surveys among European software houses

The paper describes a method for creating reusable processes and the authors' experience using them in an industrial environment. A notation and process for creating and tailoring reusable processes is described and applied to the building of a 120 process library at PRC Inc. Initial data collected on use of the library indicates large potential payoffs from process reuse such as a 10 to 1 improvement in the time to develop a project specific process.

Software process reuse in an industrial setting

A process for preventing defects has been gaining momentum in the IBM Corporation as a way to improve quality and increase productivity. The Communications Programming Laboratory in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina (near Raleigh), has been implementing the process for the past six years and has realized a 54 percent reduction in errors. This paper documents experiences at the IBM Myers Corners Laboratory MVS Interactive programming area in putting the Defect Prevention Process theories into practice. This paper begins with the proposal to adopt the Defect Prevention Process at the Myers Corners Laboratory in Poughkeepsie, New York, and our experiences thus far. It is our belief that other organizations can benefit from our experiences by understanding how the Defect Prevention Process can be adapted to best meet the needs of any organization.

J. L. Gale

Papers

Implementing the defect prevention process in the MVS interactive programming organization